Reclosable commodity bag



Jan. 28, 1964 RECL W. A. SCHOEN OSABLE COMMODITY BAG Filed Aug. 24, 1959 INVENTOR WALTER A. SCHOEN avag ATTORNEY United States Patent "cc 3,13 ,549 RECLGSABLE CQMMGDITY BAG Walter A. Sphoen, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Milprint, End, M lwaukee, Wis a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 24, 1359, Ser. No. 835,562 4 Claims. (Cl. 229-63) This invention relates generally to improvements in commodity containers or bags, and it more specifically resides in a novel construction for the commodity removal end of a bag which will permit the bag to be initially sealed for tamper proof storage or display of the merchandise prior to sale and be useful as a reclosable storage bag after being opened by the purchaser.

In the art of packaging commodities for distribution and sale, many forms of sealed containers made from flexible material are employed, for example, bags made from polyethylene film and sealed by means of heat sealing. Generally such bags are discarded once the seal has been broken and the bag opened. Because such bags are often sturdily constructed and have an attractive appearance, it would be desirable from a consumer standpoint to provide a scalable bag which could be reclosed after it is opened the first time. Such a reclosable bag could then be used as a storage container for the article originally packaged therein, or for the storage of other articles.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a commodity container which, after the insertion of merchandise therein, may be initially sealed against entry and which is reclosable and reusable as a storage container after the seal has been opened.

A further object of this invention is to provide new and useful commodity bags made from flexible plastic material, such as polyethylene film, which may be filled with merchandise, closed against entry by convenient heat sealing means and be capable of repeated reclosure after having been initially opened.

Briefly, the invention provides a commodity bag which, after being loaded with an article or articles, may be sealed by any convenient means and which has a circumferential cord or string within a chamber surrounding and spaced below one of the closure seams so that when the latter seam is opened or destroyed the container may be reclosed by means of the cord, thereby providing a convenient reusable storage container.

These and other objects and advantages are more completely set forth in the description to follow. In the description reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which there is shown by way of illustration, and not limitation, one specific embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a commodity bag with a portion broken away to show details and illustrating such bag with merchandise therein and with its removal opening sealed;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross section of the bag taken along the plane of line 22 in FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged horizontal cross section of the bag taken along the plane of line 3-3 in FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view showing the bag being opened after it has been filled with merchandise and initially sealed;

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the bag being used as a storage container for any suitable commodity, and illustrates the use of a cord to reclose the bag after the initial seal has been cut away.

Referring now to the details of the drawings, there is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 a commodity bag 10, having a front panel 11, and a rear panel 12, said panels being joined together along a bottom fold line 13 and further 3,ll9,54ii Patented Jan. 28, Th6! joined together by means of conventional heat sealed seams 14 and 15 at their contiguous side edges. In the embodiment illustrated for purposes of disclosure, the material from which the bag is fabricated may be a thermoplastic film, as for example polyethylene. The upper end 16 of the bag 10 is normally left open to provide a filling mouth through which the bag may be filled with merchandise. It is to be understood that while this particular bag construction is illustrated here for purposes of disclosure, the invention is not limited thereto, and may be utilized in conjunction with bags having gussets at their side edges, tubular bags having two open ends, and other commonly known forms of commodity bags.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the front panel 11 of the bag 19 has an accordion fold 19 comprised of a downwardly folded integral portion 20 of the front panel 11 and an upwardly folded integral portion 21 of the front panel 11, said upwardly folded portion 21 terminating in a sealing lip portion or area 22. The rear panel 12 of the bag 10 has a similar accordion told 23 comprised of a downwardly folded integral portion 24 of the rear panel 12 and an upwardly folded integral portion 25 of the rear panel 12, said upwardly folded portion 25 terminating in a sealing lip portion or area 26. The portions 22 and 26 form a sealing lip 34. A conventionally heat-sealed seam 27 joins together the front panel 11 and the downwardly folded portion 20 of the accordion fold 19. Similarly, a conventionally heat-sealed seam 28 joins together the rear panel 12 and the downwardly folded portion 24 of the accordion fold 23. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the seam 27 is spaced apart from and substantially parallel to the fold line formed between the front panel 11 and the downwardly folded portion 20 of accordion fold w; similarly, the seam 28 is spaced apart from and substantially parallel to the fold line 36 formed between the rear panel 12 and the downwardly folded portion 24 of accordion fold 23. As shown in FIG. 1, the accordion fold 19 and the accordion told 23 are joined together at their lateral side edges by conventionally heat-sealed seams 29 and 3t). In practice the body of the bag 16 is usually formed of a flattened tube of material or sheets of material joined along superimposed edge portions, hence the seams 29 and 3%) may be initially contiguous with seams 14 and 15.

As best illustrated in FIG. 2, folds 19 and 23 define a chamber 31 which surrounds the entire body of the bag It said chamber 31 having as its upper circumferential edge the fold line 35 between the front panel 11 and the downwardly folded portion 26 and the fold line 36 between the rear panel 12 and the downwardly folded portion 24-; and said chamber having as its lower circumferential edge the seams 2'7 and 28. As illustrated by FIGS. 1 and 2, the outer circumferential wall of the chamber 31 is comprised of that portion of the front panel 11 between the fold line 35 and the seam 27 together with that portion of the rear panel 12 between the fold line 36 and the seam 28. The inner circumferential wall of the chamber 31 is comprised of the downwardly folded portion 2% and the downwardly folded portion 24.

An aperture 32 conveniently located in the outer wall 11 of the bag 10 communicates with said chamber 31. A closure cord or string 33 is disposed along the entire length of the chamber 31 with its ends projecting through the aperture 32, to provide cord closure means for the bag 19. Although a single cord 33 with two ends projecting through the aperture 32 is shown in the specific embodiment of this invention depicted here it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a drawstring comprising two or more cords may also be inserted in the chamber 31 to provide a cord closure means for the bag. The cord may be of any suitable material such as string, twine, plastic thongs, or wire, etc.

After the bag 16 has been filled with merchandise, the sealing lip 34 is closed by a conventionally heat-sealed seam 37, thereby sealing the bag against entry, said seam 37 being disposed a suitable distance above or outwardly of the chamber 31. When it is desired to open the bag, the sealing lip 34 is cut on a line below the seam 37 and above the lower circumferential edge of the chamber 31, as generally indicated by the dotted line 38 which in practice may be an indicia printed upon the bag, said opening operation being most clearly illustrated by FIG. 4 of the drawing.

After the bag has been initially opened, it is suitable for use as a storage container and may be repeatedly reclosed by means of the closure cord 33, as illustrated clearly in FIG. 5.

Although the upwardly folded portions 21 and 25 of the front panel 11 and rear panel 12 respectively are illustrated in the drawings as being of the same length, it is apparent that one may be longer than the other in order to facilitate the initial loading operation.

As is apparent from the above description and the drawings, this invention provides a novel construction for a commodity bag, which permits the bag to be completely sealed after it has been filled and, in addition, provides a suitable reclosure means whereby the bag may be used as a storage container which may be repeatedly opened and closed after the initial sealing seam has been cut away.

I claim:

1. In a commodity bag of the type having walls which define a bag body, the combination with said bag of a sealing lip which defines a passage-way communicating with the interior of the bag body, a first portion of the sealing lip providing a scalable area for closure of the passage-way and a second portion of the sealing lip providing a severance area for opening of the passage-way, with the second portion spaced inwardly of the first portion; and cord closure means spaced inwardly of the aforesaid second portion of the sealing lip and arranged for closure of the passage-way.

2. A commodity bag according to claim 1 wherein the cord closure means comprises a chamber surrounding the sealing lip and a cord arranged within the chamber with a free end projecting therefrom.

3. A commodity bag according to claim 2 wherein folded portions of the walls of the bag define the sealing lip and the chamber of the cord closure means.

4. A bag made of heat-scalable plastic material having front and back wall-s joined by heat-sealed seams at the sides of the bag, a top closure for the bag constituted by a gusset of heat-scalable plastic material extending across the bag from one side thereof to the other between said front and back walls adjacent the top of the bag, said gusset being joined at the front margin thereof to the front wall of the bag and at the back margin thereof to the back wall of the bag, each of said front and back walls having a hem at the top thereof, each hem being open at one end and closed off from the interior of the bag, and draw cord means contained in said hems, said top closure being adapted to have an opening made therein, and said draw cord means being adapted to draw the top of the bag closed after such opening has been provided in said top closure,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,549,039 Adams Apr. 17, 1951 2,635,788 Snyder et al Apr, 21, 1953 2,656,769 Hultkrans Oct. 27, 1953 2,863,365 Piazze Dec. 9, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,183,880 France Feb. 2, 1959 

4. A BAG MADE OF HEAT-SEALABLE PLASTIC MATERIAL HAVING FRONT AND BACK WALLS JOINED BY HEAT-SEALED SEAMS AT THE SIDES OF THE BAG, A TOP CLOSURE FOR THE BAG CONSTITUTED BY A GUSSET OF HEAT-SEALABLE PLASTIC MATERIAL EXTENDING ACROSS THE BAG FROM ONE SIDE THEREOF TO THE OTHER BETWEEN SAID FRONT AND BACK WALLS ADJACENT THE TOP OF THE BAG, SAID GUSSET BEING JOINED AT THE FRONT MARGIN THEREOF TO THE FRONT WALL OF THE BAG AND AT THE BACK MARGIN THEREOF TO THE BACK WALL OF THE BAG, EACH OF SAID FRONT AND BACK WALLS HAVING A HEM AT THE TOP THEREOF, EACH HEM BEING OPEN AT ONE END AND CLOSED OFF FROM THE INTERIOR OF THE BAG, AND 